Boehner’s stand — that any increase in the debt limit will have to be offset, and then some, by spending cuts — triggered another round of partisan wrangling Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, Reid accused Boehner and congressional Republicans of instigating another round of brinksmanship with his latest debt demands.

Story Continued Below

“It’s pretty clear to me that the tea party direction of the Republican Party is driving them over a cliff,” Reid told reporters.

“If [Boehner] continues this, it’s going to be a Republican party that the Republicans won’t like,” Reid continued. “They don’t even like it very much now. The only people who like the Republican folks in Congress today are the Republicans in Congress. No one else likes them, including all the Republicans around the country.”

Top Senate Democrats also lashed out at Boehner, with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warning of another congressional showdown over the nation’s finances.

“It is pretty galling for Speaker Boehner to be laying down demands for another debt ceiling agreement when he won’t even abide by the last one,” Schumer said. “The last thing the country needs is a rerun of last summer’s debacle that nearly brought down our economy.”

Boehner, in a speech at a fiscal summit in Washington on Tuesday, said his proposal is fiscally responsible.

“Let’s start solving the problem,” he said. “We can make the bold cuts and reforms necessary to meet this principle, and we must.”